Build Log #3: Moving in

Waiting is not my favorite occupation. Definitely when i can’t do anything else while I wait. Since the last post I’ve been waiting for the case, the crimping tool, the sleeving and two orders of water cooling components. But now the packages are starting to arrive! The case got here about two days ago and I can only say that i love the look of it! It feels a bit small however, coming from the Corsair Carbide Air 540, but I think it will be alright. The glass and the black aluminum just gives the case a high-end feel.

Planning

Planning out the water cooling loop without having all the components installed is like trying to read a map in a dark room, you need to know where the components are going to be as well as the cabling. I installed the main components and then started to think about how to connect them in a way that is easy and still look somewhat ok.. Just need to get all my water cooling stuff to see if It’s going to fit.. As for the sleeving I so wanted to get going with it today, but since my crimping tool is a no-show yet, I’ll just have to wait..

So what i got left to do is mostly down to cable sleeving and the actual water cooling loop as the main components except the SSD and HDD are mounted in the case.

PSU Labels

While installing the Corsair HX1000i, I could’t help myself rotating the labels and removing the “specs” patch from it using a heat gun.. The downside with having a see-through case is that everything is visible. And who can stand inverted labels?

Inverted Label

Removing the specs label

Reapplying the rotated label

No more inverted labels

A clean looking PSU

Things about the Radiator

I’m going to use a single 360 (120mm x 3) radiator in this build. I don’t see the necessity to have a ton more cooling capacity than needed within a case where radiator space is a bit short. I’ll be reusing the Alphacool XT45 radiator from my previous build running in push-pull unlike before where I had the fans set up in push only. But I didn’t feel like buying another three Corsair SP120’s QE when there’s more attracting fans on the market…

The Corsair ML-120 features a new suspension by using magnets instead of a traditional ball- or sleeve bearing making it super silent! Well, that’s what they say at least. Since the majority of fan noise is caused by turbulence and much more less by the actual motor, I’d reckon that it will perform about the same as my SP fans do soundwise. However the speed range on the ML fans is incredible and it’s capable to push air at more than 3 times the static pressure than the SP (according to it’s specifications). And did i say they use magnets?

As the fans emits quiet a bit of light I think I’ll use them as the primary light source depending on how it looks..